I had started this painting before I read To the Lighthouse, but reading the final chapter was a true jolt to the senses.

The main elements of the painting were already there, the fish, the characters – Mr Ramsay, Cam and James – the spectre of Mrs Ramsay I brought in later.

Rather than a simple still life I wanted to bring out the overbearing anticipation of this journey through the brooding rocks leading up to the lighthouse.

The sea is such a strong element throughout the book, I also try to suggest how water slowly engulfs the ordered lives of the Ramsays (of us all) and even mocks their (our) efforts in domesticity.

Mr Ramsay – being a metaphysical philosopher – may have been quite unsurprised to find himself and his family reconfigured, but as to its being painted by a woman, he would doubtless find the work trivial.

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8 thoughts on “To the Lighthouse”

what I love so much about this is the way you’ve turned a classic still life on its head – all the beautiful detail of background so that the subjects have to make their own statements. More interesting is the weaving in of the Ramsay’s family dynamics

Thanks Laura for your thoughtful comments – it’s impossible to know really what I’m doing or whether any of it makes any sense to anyone else. I’d like to do some more along these lines – will hope some inspiration hits soon.

Thanks so much Maureen – paintings of dead fish are not as popular as roses! but I found exploring the work in a more 3 dimensional way as it develops – ie not just looking at the visual representation but thinking about the underlying meaning – very enjoyable.

Hi Hilary – thank you :>. Once I’d found something to say with this painting it really became so much more enjoyable. It was interesting to set the components as ‘characters’ (even though this was just in my head!) – there was something more to explore, just like when you’re writing a character.

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